peters



H. D. BIRD.

Car Door.

Patented- 'Jan. 29, 1867.

Wain e g g fi yen 5-0 7- N FEI'EiS, PHOTO-HTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGT-ON, D. C.

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IMPROVED FASTENING FOR RAILWAY GAR DOORS.

'dtlge firlgehult rcfetrch to in flgcsc getter; Efizrtmt mm mating part it tin same TO ALL .WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, HENRY D. BIRD, of Petersburg, in the county of Dinwiddie, and State of Virginia,

have invented a new and improved mode of Securing the Doors of-Railroad Freight Cars, and making theu self-fastening; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which 7 Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a freight car having the door closed, and the bar for fastening the same, illustrated in the required position for opening the door; and

Figure 2, a similar section of a'freight car showing the door open.

Similar letters indicate like parts in all of the figures. V

The nature of my invention consists in placing a bar of wood or iron, marked A in the drawings, inside the door, B, of the car, and securing it by a hinge, c, to the door post I), in such a-manner that it will, asthe door closes, fall of its own weight into a horizontal position between the post, and a catch or stop, E, on the door, thus fastening it, and when lifted above the catch (as shown in red lines fig. 1,) shall be raised by pushing open the door, and thus be in readiness to drop whenthe door is again shut. The bar A'can, if needed, be hinged to the door itself; or, if the aperture is too narrow, it may be secured insidethe door post; and it can be applied to any doors, double or single or sliding, inside or outside. There are many ways in which the bar A can be raised to permit the door to be opened; but the one I think the. best adapted to secure the object aimed at, to wit, the most effectual fastening of the car, is to make a key, F, of a. short piece of three-fourths gas-tubing, a, having a screw through it fitted upon the end of a rod, 6, of say three-eighths iron, made long enough to reach down from the top of the car, (when inserted through a key hole, f, therein) to a male screw, e, projecting from the top of the free end of the bar, (as represented in the drawings.) By this means the bar can be raised high enough to enable anassistant to open the door sufiiciently to get the end of the bar over the stop E, (as shown in red lines in fig. 1,) when, after removing the key F, the bar will be raised by the move ment of the door in being opened, and may he swung back into an upright position, (as seen in fig. 2.) The key hole,f, may be covered by a slide or other device, which'may be sealed or itself locked where additional security is desired.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and, desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I p i The improved mode of securing railroad car doors, and making them self-fastening by means of a hinged bar, substantially in the manner herein described.

The foregoing specification of my improvements for securingrailroad car doors, Sign, signed byme this fifth day of October, A. D. 1866.

. HENRY D. BIRD.

Witnesses:

H. H. YOUNG, F. S. Grssnn. 

